In its ad in the Philippine Star, the makers of Xerox copying machine has appealed to the world not to use Xerox as another word for copy. But long before this ad came out, Cebuanos have been using Xerox as another word for copy. So the Xerox appeal came a wee bit late.
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In offices, schools, everywhere, you hear people here say: "Paseroki ni bi" or "Naay serokanan diha sa may sidewalk." Yes, even if the copying machine or photo copier is not Xerox but another brand.
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The Xerox inventors should take pride in this -- that their product has become a byword in Cebu homes, offices, even sidewalks. And that they (inventors) have contributed to the growth of our language.
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Despite the pain in my back caused by my spinal injury which my doctor calls slipped disc, I stayed up to 3 a.m. last Tuesday watching on tv the World Ten Ball Billiards Championship played in Manila. Yes, even if all the cue artists I hoped would win did not.
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One of those I hoped to see victorious was Taiwan's Lin Yuan-Chun, one of Asia's best female billiards players. But she lost to Jasmin Ouschan, the world's No. 1 female cue artist from Austria. I chose Miss Lin not because it's my nature to go for the underdog but because I saw in the Taiwanese a picture of calmness despite her being an underdog. And yes, like Jasmin she also has the looks.
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The so-called milk crisis facing us today has made me recall the goat development program launched by then Congressman Dodong Gullas in the First District. I don't know what happened to Sir Dodong's goat program, but I do know that if it has grown into a big thing, Cebuanos in the rural areas in the First District don't have to worry about the melamine tainted milk from China.
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I read somewhere that the best animal milk for humans is goat's milk. But the problem is more people here and abroad prefer to raise milking cows (no pun intended) because there's more money in them cows as they produce more milk than goats.
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I suggest the government push for the launching of a nationwide goat program to boost our healthful food supply. I mean goats for meat and milk. And it must be carried on in earnest so that it will not fail and end up producing scapegoats instead.
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BOBITS SAYS: "Prayer is not a spare tire we pull out when our lives have gone flat. Prayer is the steering wheel that directs our lives in the right path."
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Email: nitzjab@yahoo.com